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Summary
“I received better onboarding at Jack in the Box than I did as a union employee.” That comment from an HVAC contractor president frames the problem this report sets out to fix. With 60 percent of construction injuries happening in a worker’s first year and effective onboarding linked to 52 percent better retention and 60 percent higher productivity, the first 90 days are some of the highest-leverage time a contractor has. Yet most firms still treat onboarding as paperwork on Day 1 and hope on Day 2.
Built around SHRM’s 5 Cs framework (Compliance, Clarification, Culture, Connection, and Check-Back), this New Horizons Foundation report walks through a full 90-day onboarding arc with real contractor examples, ten strategic questions to answer before redesigning the process, a practical technology stack, and a stripped-down playbook for small contractors with limited time and budget. The message is straightforward: onboarding doesn’t need to be complicated or expensive, but it does need to be intentional.